All posts by Zachary Singer

Zachary Singer earned his Bachelor of Music Degree from San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 2012 and Master of Music Degree from The University of Texas-Austin in 2014. His passion for playing percussion has led to performing in some of the greatest concert halls in the world including The Berliner Philharmonie, The National Concert Hall in Taipei and The Kennedy Center. Zachary joined the Jackson Hole Community Band in May 2015 as a percussionist. Since then, he has taken on more music projects in Jackson. When announced In March 2016, Zachary jumped at the opportunity to lead the JHCB as the new director. He is very excited to work with a group of well rounded musicians and expand his musical prowess.

This is my favorite time of the year. The leaves have changed colors. The wind is howling. All manner of superstitious creatures are making their way out of the shadows. Halloween season is here!

Jackson Hole Community Band 2017 Halloween Concert

To celebrate, the Community Band is performing it’s annual Halloween Concert for the Kids at Walk Festival Hall. Children, adults, and musicians will be dressing up as their favorite characters and listening to the haunting sounds of winds and percussion. We’ll be playing such classic Halloween tunes such as Danse Macabre, Bach’s Toccata and Fugue and music from the movies Dark Shadows and Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Special Appearance by Dancers Workshop Student Performers

This year will also feature a collaboration with Dancers Workshop. Our performance of Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals will have Lions, Elephants, and Swans dancing alongside the band. I would like to thank school director, Eric Midgley, for organizing and rehearsing the dancers for this event.

Sammy Douville (flute) & Jason Wright (saxophone) at the 2017 concert

It wouldn’t be a Halloween concert without our Addams Family sing-a-long. Audience members will be singing the classic tune at the end of the show with a guest singer to lead them. We’ll also invite costumed kids to march their way along the stage to the militant sounds of Gustav Holst’s Mars from his most famous work The Planets. After the show, children will have the opportunity to seek local Teton Village businesses for some trick-or-treat candy.

This year’s Halloween concert is shaping up to be the most challenging and fun that I have ever conducted. I can’t wait to see the ghouls and goblins make their way to the show and have a haunting time!

Meet Zachary Singer –

Every journey begins with a single step. The Jackson Hole Community Band will begin it’s 2018-19 season with the many racing steps of Old Bills Fun Run. Who could ask for a better way to start?

For me, Old Bills has always been the start. Two years ago, I made my debut as the conductor on a wonderful sunny morning in Town Square. Since then, I have made new friends and strengthened old ones, seen the eyes of children light up when they hear a familiar Halloween tune, given audience members a journey around the world and through time and seen a side of Jackson that loves and appreciates the arts on a community level. My experiences are only a small fraction of the great experiences had by all the members of the band since its inception in 1989. This year we share some of those experiences leading up to Old Bills with a Meet a Member Campaign. Select members of the group will have a chance to blog on our website about their experiences with the band and why they still love being a member.

Jackson Hole Fourth of July Parade 2018

The music we’ll be playing at the Square will reflect the spirit of our group. From the zany sounds of The Muppets Theme to the laid back sounds of MacDonald and Hanley’s Indiana to the somewhat suspicious sounds of The Stripper. Every tune will help make this early September morning energize. And with that, every band member will bring their own personality into the music we present for you.

One thing I can’t forget to mention is the importance of donating to the Community Band via Old Bills Fun Run. Examples of how your donations help include instrument repair, maintenance of library materials, radio and newspaper publicity, rehearsal and concert space rentals, and so forth. These details are only a mere trifle as compared to the real intent of your donation. Your donation shows the love and support for community music making and its impact on the future of our society. I’ll see you on the square!

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The Jackson Hole Community Band Celebrates Independence Day at Jackson Lake Lodge

Winter is a distant memory. The snow has melted. Adventurers are rafting down the Snake. Trails are blazing with mountain bikers and hikers. Summer is here! What better way to celebrate than a good ole fashioned patriotic concert!

I couldn’t be more excited for our Jackson Lake Lodge Concert. It’s truly a treat to perform in front of the beauty that is Jackson Lake and Mount Moran. Being so close to Independence Day, this concert will feature some classic American themed music from Henry Fillmore to John Philip Sousa to Aaron Copland. Veterans will have a chance to show their nation’s pride with our “Armed Forces Salute”, which features “The Caisson Song”, “Semper Paratus”, “The Marine Hymn”, “U.S. Air Force Song” and “Anchors Away”.

This concert also features a piece by american cartoonist and xylophonist George Hamilton Green. It’s a jovial rag for wind band and solo xylophone by the name of “Log Cabin Blues”. Somehow, it strikes up the image of a Yellowstone moose somehow making its way into a local’s cabin late at night. The xylophone soloist for this concert will be none other than yours truly. While not too difficult for the band to play, the xylophone solo challenges the player with complex stick movements and long improvisational-like arpeggios.

The program will have a chance to relax with a performance of Gershwin’s “Someone to Watch Over Me”. This performance features our one and only bassoonist, Caitlyn Falco, singing the enchanting lyrics. Caitlyn also sings with the Jazz Foundation of Jackson Hole and everyone in the band is excited to have her display her talent for this concert as well.

It wouldn’t be a Jackson Lake Lodge concert without PDQ Bach. Perhaps the most esteemed wind composer of all time, his works are reminiscent of a day in the life of a musical Mad Hatter. “March of the Cute Little Wood Sprites” is a tale as old as time. As described in the composers notes, “this piece was commissioned by a band of cute little wood sprites…and they were so pleased with the result that after the first performance several members of the troupe, still wearing wings and halos, climbed up on top of the composer and did a jig.” While seemingly a harmless work, this piece has provided the greatest challenge a community band could ever face; SINGING! Displayed at small intervals, community band musicians will have the opportunity to show off their reluctant dedication to the conductor with a few “Laas” and “Do-Waahs” here and there. I have no doubt that this group will use the power of the sprites themselves to pull off a charming display for the audience.

Lastly, our most challenging piece on the program (besides Midway March), “A Copland Tribute”. This piece takes the best parts of this american composer’s vast repertoire and cleverly sews it seamlessly into one piece for wind band. You will hear music from his “Fanfare for the Common Man”, “Simple Gifts” from “Appalachian Spring” and “Buckaroo Holiday” and “Hoe-Down” from “Rodeo”. The setting for this performance couldn’t be more Grand. I’m sure this conductor’s face will light up with majesty when hearing these classic Copland themes with a simultaneous view of Mount Moran. I can’t wait!

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We are a non-profit, tax-exempt organization under IRS § 501(c)(3). Your generous donation helps to buy new music, pay rent in our rehearsal space in the JH Center for the Arts, and supply our equipment & instrument needs, among many other things.